Vernon Cruises To Win Over Portage:

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Vernon cruises to win over Portage

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-05-02

The Vipers built a commanding first period lead and then coasted to a 5-2 win over the Portage Terriers Monday afternoon in the Royal Bank Cup in Camrose, Alberta.

The team from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba came out strong and had a slight edge in play for the first three shifts of the game. Then, a dominating shift by Vernon’s fourth line of Aaron Hadley, Trevor Fitzgerald, and Colton Sparrow set the tone for the remainder of the opening period.

When the whistle blew after 20 minutes, the Vipers had out shot the Western representatives 14-1 and had created a 3-0 lead.

Midway through the opening frame, penalties to Adam Robson and Kajon McKay gave the Vipers a two-man advantage. David Robinson made the Terriers pay when he swept in Dylan Walchuk’s perfect pass at 11:52.

The Vipers converted the second half of the power play at 13:00 when Ryan Renz’s slider from the right point snaked through a forest of legs and just inside Kirk Croswell’s right goal post.

Dylan Walchuk gave his team a three-goal lead at 17:15. He collected the puck from passes made by Dane Muench and Marcus Basara and showed great patience while stick handling around three Terriers high in the Portage zone.

Walchuk’s hard wrist shot took a slight deflection before whistling into the top corner.

In the second and third periods, the Vipers relaxed and the Terriers fought back. In the second, they had more scoring chances than the Vipers but were unable to beat a steady Kirby Halcrow.

To make matters worse, Portage gave up the only goal of the period. Marcus Basara created space for himself with his patented high slot swoop and shot high on Croswell. The rebound fell to Dylan Walchuk, who whirled and beat the former Williams Lake Timberwolf netminder.

Early in the third, Kyle Murphy nearly made the score 5-0 when his snap shot went off the cross bar.

However, the Terriers bounced back with two goals created by relentless fore checking. Stephane Pattyn and Tanner Waldvogel set each other up for hard-working goals at 1:47 and 8:42.

After the second goal, Coach Mark Ferner gently scolded his troops during a TV timeout and they responded with a stronger effort.

One instance of that redoubled effort resulted in a John Knisley goal at 11:49. Darren Nowick hustled to win a puck battle deep in his zone and he then scooted up the right side. He passed to Mike Zalewski who came off the left wing and tried a high speed wrap around. Knisley was there to pop in the rebound.

The Vipers, who were out shot 16-11 over the final two periods, will next face the Wellington Dukes at 2.30 Pacific time on Wednesday afternoon.

Each of the other four teams in the RBC Cup has suffered a defeat. The Vipers have a 2-0 record, which means that they already have a strong chance of qualifying for one of the two semi-final games scheduled for Saturday.